


Observations

by roxfox1962 (roxfox62)



Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Awakenings - Freeform, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-07 01:37:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/425482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxfox62/pseuds/roxfox1962
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Varying PoVs from Dragon Age: Origins and Awakenings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Observations

Dragon Age: Origins & Awakening are BioWare's creation…

-.-

Even the elements seemed to want to battle them as the rainstorm pummelled their faces, and transformed the dirt road beneath their feet into a river of mud. Their hurried pace had slowed considerably, every step becoming more and more laborious as the day crept by. Especially dispiriting were the endless piles of mangled bodies, strewn carelessly throughout their path. The embattled group felt the bloody sludge clutching at their boots, the constant struggle ripping away what little hope they had left to cling to. Sporadic lightning flashed across the sky, intermittently highlighting the twisting, billowing cloud of smoke wafting across the horizon. Their destination.

Vigil's Keep, once thought of as an impenetrable sanctuary, was no longer a safe haven: the Darkspawn's second invasion of their sacred lair had shown them how weak their defenses were in the face of such malignancy. In all likelihood she was now a wretched, broken gathering of ancient stone and mortar, streaked with red and black rivulets of blood. One could only imagine the havoc the dark ones had left in their wake.

Soldiers, knights and freemen guarding the Keep had little choice but to fight their fears as they stood against the invasion of the dark army in the absence of the Commander of the Grey. They deserved the greatest praise in bravely facing a horde of formidable opponents, aware of how vulnerable they were to the poison in their enemy's blood.

Darkspawn were insatiable in their desire for complete destruction, virulent hatred their only motivation.

Exhausted, the group trudged on nonetheless, vaguely noting the seemingly endless stretch of road before them as they drew closer to Vigil's Keep. The battle to save the City of Amaranthine was over, but the war was not. They had to prepare themselves for the losses…the darkness…ahead of them.

The Arlessa of Amaranthine, and Ferelden's Commander of the Grey Wardens, momentarily halted in mid-stride. Images of past tragedies flashed through her mind: Highever, Ostagar, Redcliffe, Kinloch Hold, Denerim. She remembered bygone horrors when facing the darkspawn in person and in nightmares. Nightmares that these Wardens had not yet been hardened to.

She knew these newest Wardens needed the trial by fire; needed to understand the potential sacrifice of their own kith. How else would their seemingly destructive ways make sense? How else would they learn that their creed was far more than mere words? They would have to realize their duty included destroying without compassion or hesitation, and one day they would have to accept the soulless hatred - and insanity - the tainted blood gave them in the end. Then they would have to face the final choice; become the enemy, or die killing them.

Her former life of power and prestige had not prepared her for the experience of being a fabled Grey Warden. All that remained from her beginnings was the understanding of duty. Duty had sustained her throughout the horrific demise of her family, allowed her to walk away from a shattered heart, and accept the encroaching death of her soul. Only one in the group understood the depth of her loss, as he had lost even more.

Alas, even duty had its limits, and she could feel the time of her leadership coming to an end. Meeting the eyes of her companions was becoming more and more difficult, the guilt too much to bear. If only she could have explained what they had to do, how long they had left, and how lonely the next few years would be before they underwent the Joining. As a reluctant Grey Warden herself, she believed the secretive nature of the Joining to be a form of betrayal of their humanity, as well as to their dignity. And now her companions simmered with barely contained rage, desperation and despair, similar to what she'd felt at her own Joining.

Elissa Cousland eyed them a sympathetically before focusing once more on the road.

_Perhaps they were ready, after all_.


End file.
